2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:48 pm

I've been advised not to buy a Ford truck with the 6.0 engine. I'm told they were very problematic. Anyone here know what the problems were? ThanksOh and spare me the Ford vs Dodge vs Chevy preferences. :-)

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:55 pm

Thomas, my understanding is they had many problems. Before I bought my new truck I looked at a 2004 one owner with 37,000 miles on it. I know the salesman very well and he told me all about the previous owner and how he took care of it. Then he said the only problem with it was that it was a 6.0. Coming from a salesman I saw the red flag right there. I asked my mechanic about them and he said to avoid it. Here is a little info on them. http://performancewise.net/ford/ford-6-0l-power-stroke-problems/

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:48 pm

I worked as a diesel tech for ford for 20 years, the 7.3 was a great motor, the 6.0 was a waste of cast iron, it was only made for a few years and replaced by the 6.4 which was even worse, so stay away from those two or you pocketbook will be sorryTim

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:24 pm

Seems to me it had something to do with some EGR valve cooler and would have to pull the heads or something.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:10 am

I read somewhere that there are two kinds of 6.0 owners, those who have had problems and those who will. This comment came from a Ford diesel tech. I would avoid it at all costs.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:56 pm

Thanks for the replies. This truck had already had alot of work done to it. I know the guy well who owns it. He gave me the whole history of the truck. But with the opinions expressed here and my own research I'm going to pass on it. The owner feels like the problems are solved but he told me he'd rather not see me get the truck in light of the 6.0 rep

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:09 pm

tmays wrote:Thanks for the replies. This truck had already had alot of work done to it. I know the guy well who owns it. He gave me the whole history of the truck. But with the opinions expressed here and my own research I'm going to pass on it. The owner feels like the problems are solved but he told me he'd rather not see me get the truck in light of the 6.0 rep

That is a friend

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:41 pm

I heard something to the effect that they rushed it into production to meet some federal standards.

I went from a gas 351 to a 7.3L (IH 444) that had 211K on it when I bought it. Has 255K now. It's loud, but gets decent MPG (avg about 17 HWY). I run straight biodiesel in the summer, no road tax if it's made in RI. Exhaust has a hint of fried clams and donuts It's been the best vehicle I have ever owned. Ketchum clued me in when I was shopping..... Glad I listened.

The price of diesel is pretty crazy now, more than $4.30 a gallon in Maine. The new ones have loads of complicated stuff on them.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:13 pm

Thomas, You made the right decision on that truck. These engines have had all the problems listed above and more.I had a customer call me about a year and a half ago for my opinion on a F350 with the 6.0, I told him not to touch it. He stated that the PO have the egr cooler upgraded already and it was running strong, told him not to buy it. He bought it anyway because of the price , 8 months later it died on him 300 miles from home, blew the head gaskets. I think he told me it took over 4500.00 to get it repaired. He brought it home and put a For Sale sign on it.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:15 pm

There may be an active class action lawsuit about those engines now. Best to pass on that one.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:06 pm

we have several where i work and nothing but major problems.every one has had at least 2 sets of injectors at $800 a cylinder i was told and not sure what the problem was but the one i drive filled the radiator full of crankcase oil.then i found out every one of them had this problem.our mechanics said it is the worst engine ever.hope this helps.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:19 pm

There are a lot of them for sale round here. Every ad says "All the NORMAL problems have been fixed".

There should be nothing NORMAL about having to fix one, then in the ad make like you are getting a great deal, cause all the problems have been fixed.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:34 am

6.0’s have head gaskets,oil coolers failures, EGR coolers have leaks in the high pressure oil system and eat injectors from late 04-07. 6.4’s, eat front engine covers, radiators, pistons, injectors, high pressure fuel pumps and Turbochargers…. And that’s their good points…. The Ford vs International lawsuit should have included the 6.4.

What mystifies me is why an auto manufacture that had the truck market locked up would let something like a bad engine go for so long and dissatisfy so many customers.

The new Ford made 6.7 came along only because of Fords decision to part ways with International. Ford sued International because they felt International didn't pay their fair share of warranty claims on the 6.0/6.4.

My brother has a 2013 6.7L F350 crew cab long bed dual rear wheel Lariat and it will walk away from my 2012 Duramax HD 3500 fully loaded. I’m thoroughly impressed with its power and quietness.(no preferences just telling facts) Ford buys the 6.7 Liter block from Tupy SA, of Brazil which was development and tested for four years. The 6.7 is built in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Last edited by JackF on Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:01 am

JackF wrote:.......What mystifies me is why an auto manufacture that had the truck market locked up would let something like a bad engine go for so long and dissatisfy so many customers. .........

I have worked for large companies fro many years, and have learned that the engineers that decide what components are put together in any assembly and the high level management that approves those decisions are incapable of making errors, and if there was no error, there is no need to correct it. at least until there are some personnel changes and the new people decide to correct it.

Re: 2003 Ford F250 6.0 engine

Sat Mar 23, 2013 7:56 am

I am a partsman for a Ford Dealer....Larry [Buzzard Wing] asked me so I told him what I'd seen...A 7.3L was a great one..The next two are smog motors..The 6.7L seems to be picking up.Ford shot themselfs in the foot on the 6.0L and 6.4L..Don't get many 6.7L in the shop..Other than oil and fuel filter changes.Kevin